New year’s resolutions for my blog

Now that we are two days into 2018, I have put together a few new year’s resolutions for my blog.

I am sharing them here in case any of them are helpful to you, and so that they will be a reminder to me of how I am trying to improve.

Be timely – Don’t wait until two days after the event before posting on topics. I want to post early about upcoming events, but I guess I am already struggling at this one. I will try to do better with this in 2018, or 2019 at the latest.

Spend more time reading other blogs – It’s a great way to steal ideas, I mean get good ideas for posts. Also, there are plenty of great writers out there and I can learn a lot by reading their interesting and often inspiring words. I need to find more time for this in 2018.

Comment on other blogs, too – I love it any time I get a comment on a post, so I have been trying to comment on other blogs more often. I am also commenting more on statements from my family members, friends, coworkers, people I meet on the street and television characters. They don’t appreciate it as much, so I will try to stick more to commenting on blogs.

Find more new blogs to follow – At first I followed the Phil Collins principle for blogging “I will follow you, will you follow me,” but I have tried to do more searching for new blogs that I enjoy. It’s hard to keep up with all of the blogs I already follow, but it is always fun to find new writers.

Don’t use too many references from Phil Collins songs – I may enjoy the references and the songs, but I should probably stick with references from this millennium if I want readers to know what I am talking about. Then again, maybe I should go against all odds, say that I don’t care anymore and remain in this land of confusion of Phil Collins references.

Be a better writer – I need to not use the word “thing” anymore and I need to find better words than “great” and “nice” as I use both way too often. When I get stuck, I should probably just say the word, Su-Su-Sussudio

Post at regular times – I am constantly trying out different times to see which will work best, but that is probably the wrong thing to do. I have heard that posting at set times works better because it gets readers used to when you post. More importantly, it would keep me on a schedule, which I need. I have a groovy kind of love for schedules and plans.

Use more images – I am constantly ignoring the solid advice about the need for images with posts, but I am going to do better with that in 2018. I found a few in 2017, but I can do much, much better this year.

Be brave – I second guess myself way too much on ideas that I have for writing projects, and sometimes I don’t get started just because I think the idea might fail or look stupid. This has been a problem for me for quite a while now. If having this blog has proven anything, though, it’s that I can look stupid no matter what I write. With that in mind, I might as well try some of the new ideas I have been thinking about for far too long. This is the year take chances and not care too much about if the ideas work or not. It’s better to try than to do nothing, and if I fail, I’ll just say I missed again and then I will try something else.

Write shorter posts – They can even have quick and simple endings like this one. That’s all.

Phil Collins is awesome. I hope you started the new year right: 12:00 a.m. timed with the drum break from In The Air Tonight.
You just keep doing what you’re doing…because we can’t just let you leave without a trace.

Looking forward to those brave new writing ideas. Maybe you can come up with something I can then use on my own site.

As for the timing of posts, I’ve found it doesn’t really make much difference. I started off posting on a very regular basis – I even had a schedule I would publish at the beginning of each month. But then I began posting whenever I felt like it – sometimes more often, sometimes less. I even took that months-long sabbatical. My readership never changed. It seems that once you’ve built up that base of loyal followers, they’ll read whatever you write whenever you write it – often within minutes of a post being published, which makes me feel very special indeed!

Thanks, and thanks for the information on times to post. What you wrote made sense. I won’t worry much about that resolution then and will see about the others. And good luck with your writing ideas, too. You always come up with interesting and fun posts.

That’s great to hear, and thanks! I definitely doubt myself on posts and idea. I am betting that people will be interested in your ideas. You should be confident. You have a great blog and you’re a very good writer. I especially like your grandfather’s advice about choosing to be happy. I am going to try to do that, too.

This is the first post of yours that I’ve read, and I’m amused! I love your resolutions, keep on throwing the Phil Collins references in for those of us that enjoy them, and I look forward to seeing more of your posts!

Thanks! That’s very nice of you to say, and I’m happy to hear from another person who loves Phil Collins references. It was fun to try to throw a bunch of them in there and to think about all of his different songs.

Great post!
I agree with almost all of your points. I must admit I only got the Phil Collins reference because you announced it 😉 I have the same challenge though. I always try to sneak in Tim Minchin references. I even call them out. But so far no one has reacted to any of them :). Oh well, I guess we keep trying.

I’m also focusing on improving my writing. I still feel that it’s too boring and static, even if I think objectively I’m getting a bit better. I responded to someone commenting on one of my posts on Facebook today though and it immediately had a lot more ehm spunk and wit in it. Not sure where that leaves me though. Am I supposed to get slightly agitated about a subject before writing a post and then write it as if I’m talking to someone?
More thinking it needed..

Thanks, and I’ll be honest, I don’t know much about Tim Minchin, but I am going to read up on him now and look for Minchin references. And your writing seems super. I don’t know what to say about spunk and wit, just write what you are comfortable with and happy with I guess. I do like the idea of writing a if you talking to someone. I like conversational style of writing, even if I am just talking to myself….Good luck with your resolutions and Happy New Year to you!

What can I say? If you hang in long enough, against all odds, the least you can do is make strangers like me read behind the lines. That would be another day in Paradise, obviously, so don’t lose my number. Otherwise I wish it would rain down in the air tonight like China.